Proverbial Monday: Silver Bullet

Blog Post by: Ernest Comer III

February 20, 2013 - 8:22 PM

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Happy President's Day!

Every week we'll start off with our "highs and lows" and get into some important societal survival skills and general goings on of the TwinCities and neighboring communities with news about the rest of the world here and there. Participation is simple. Just give us your highs and lows either in the comments of the article or on twitter by trending #ProverbialMonday or tweeting to me @ProverbTribune.

High: Definitely making progress in my career.

Low: My patience is thinning..

***Silver Bullet***

People who work in the social sector often talk about how the issues that we work to resolve are complex and how in many ways the resources we have are too limited to constitute a resolution. People will argue there’s no “silver bullet” to destroy these intricate systems of oppression. Let me correct them. We do have a silver bullet made of accountability & consistency. What’s required is accountability & consistency in collaborative efforts, in engaging communities and building on the assets and resources that exist there to develop sustainable change.

If we are talking about destroying a werewolf then we should know that it won’t be killed by the impact of the bullet but by the elements that it’s made of seeping into the bloodstream. That process requires time, a fourth dimension we tend to forget about.

Only a few understand that and maybe it seems implausible that we already have the answers to the problems we’re working to solve. Then again, some of the world’s greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible.

Based on partnerships of mutual investment along with accountability & consistency powerful impact has been achieved and incredible changes have been made. We build relationships of mutual investment with community members because they are our neighbors, our friends, our partners in creating a better community where everyone has something of value to contribute. As soon as we begin to recognize the capacity of the tools that we have our efforts become unrelenting and change becomes inevitable.